"It showed people who ate a lot of processed meat were also more likely to smoke,
be obese and have other behaviours known to damage health."
--Yep which also played a part in death.."

This is just a general comment, as if you look to the next part...

"But after adjusting for smoking, obesity and other confounders
we THINK there is a risk of eating processed meat."--they THINK oh well that settles it..real scientific"
They confirm that they adjusted for confounding variables. As for "think", learn a little about science please. You can almost never claim 100% proof.

"But wait there's more....

Tracy Parker, a heart health dietitian with the British Heart Foundation, said the research suggested processed meat MIGHT be linked to an increased risk of early death, but those who ate more of it in the study also made "other unhealthy lifestyle choices".

"They were found to eat less fruit and vegetables and were more likely to smoke, which may have had an impact on results.

---Gee you think ?!? Seriously so this what constitutes a scientific study these days

Of course the media will take the big scary headline and run with it"

More or less what I said before. "Might" is how science works, unless a hell of a lot of research is done. Gravity is still a theory. And they have adjusted for confounding variables, which means that they did find a link between processed food consumption and death.

Is the debate about a study that claims processed food is problematic?

Isn't Primal all about getting away from processed food because it's problematic?

Do you consider bacon, sausage and ham to be processed food?

"Processed" casts a wide net. Cheerios, Hot Pockets and Doritos are processed foods. So is coconut oil, butter, bacon and cheese. Where do you draw the line? If you eat no processed food, you can't even buy steaks at the store. After all, it's processed by a butcher. Unless you're picking your own fruits and vegetables and slaughtering your own cow, you're eating some degree of processed food.

Last edited by ChocoTaco369; 03-08-2013 at 06:33 AM.

Don't put your trust in anyone on this forum, including me. You are the key to your own success.

"Processed" casts a wide net. Cheerios, Hot Pockets and Doritos are processed foods. So is coconut oil, butter, bacon and cheese. Where do you draw the line? If you eat no processed food, you can't even buy steaks at the store. After all, it's processed by a butcher. Unless you're picking your own fruits and vegetables and slaughtering your own cow, you're eating some degree of processed food.

I think we have to consider degrees and quality of processing. Could I make bacon from a few simple ingredients? Yes. Could I control for ingredients of lesser quality (e.g., sugar)? Yes. But could I make Cheerios, Hot Pockets, or Doritos? No. I could make knock-offs, but looking at the ingredient lists of those products, it's obvious that they've crossed the line of acceptability WRT processing. I could make olive oil - build a press, extract the oil. I could extract coconut oil. These are processed foods that are not made of mysterious ingredients, and we can make choices as to the quality of how they are processed (cold-pressed EVOO, virgin coconut oil).

When I cook a meal, I am in a sense "processing" it, but not in the way that we consider processed foods unhealthful. There is a difference between the hamburger I grill and the one prepared by McDonald's with its flavor enhancers.

So much like other things in Primal, the notion of processing must be considered a spectrum, where the center of the supermarket is generally composed of processed food that are not acceptable, with a few exceptions (coffee, spices, etc.). The notion of processing foods by cooking from ingredients like meat, fish, vegetables, and spices is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Doritos, and there are definite separations not only of degrees but of order. Most of this becomes intuitive when eating Primally, but the question of processing boils down to: Could I make that exactly? Or would I need to alter it to prepare it myself? And of course quality of ingredients is always a factor. Yes, I could make a doughnut, but should I do so? No.

This is all rather timely as I would like to try making my own sausage and charcuterie this year.

I think we have to consider degrees and quality of processing. Could I make bacon from a few simple ingredients? Yes. Could I control for ingredients of lesser quality (e.g., sugar)? Yes. But could I make Cheerios, Hot Pockets, or Doritos? No. I could make knock-offs, but looking at the ingredient lists of those products, it's obvious that they've crossed the line of acceptability WRT processing. I could make olive oil - build a press, extract the oil. I could extract coconut oil. These are processed foods that are not made of mysterious ingredients, and we can make choices as to the quality of how they are processed (cold-pressed EVOO, virgin coconut oil).

I agree with you. Some people call this the "fail-eo" movement. I disagree. A good example are "paleo pancakes." Some people sneer at them simply because they're in the shape of a pancake and therefore evil. I look at them as...a banana, an egg and a teaspoon of tapioca starch or coconut flour fried in a drop of Kerrygold. Seems pretty good to me. Some processed foods can be healthier than unprocessed foods - I'll take my paleo pancake above over a skinless chicken breast and raw kale even though the latter is less processed. And those raw diets...they're often as unprocessed as they come, but cooking fibrous vegetables and denaturing animal protein with heat actually makes it more available to the body! Context is important.

Originally Posted by Finnegans Wake

When I cook a meal, I am in a sense "processing" it, but not in the way that we consider processed foods unhealthful. There is a difference between the hamburger I grill and the one prepared by McDonald's with its flavor enhancers.

Yep. If McDonald's french fries were simply white potatoes fried in beef tallow with salt and pepper, I'd say that would be a pretty guiltless occasional treat. But times have changed.